Bramhall parkrun news

Race 133 December 11: Not so Pettie

The big thaw arrived just in time at the park this weekend allowing us to run the race after last week’s cancellation because of snow and ice.The uncertainty over whether the run would go ahead inevitably led to a reduced field, but 165 of you still turned out as we were able to run on our usual course in what seemed remarkably mild weather after the big chill!For many of you it was probably a relief to be running at all given the treacherous conditions underfoot last week.Before we started the race there was a well-earned cheer for our November runner of month Ian Clarke, while once the race got going there was only going to be one winner as Neil Pettie from Goyt Valley Striders strode up the first hill.Neil celebrated his first victory at the park in 13 outings with a fantastic new PB of 18.06 which improved upon his previous best by 21 seconds. My guess is that being out at the front spurred him on to run even faster just in case he was caught!He needn’t have worried as he had a good cushion over runner-up Paul Capey while Martin Rutter completed our podium. In the ladies race honours went to Kate Thornhill who clocked 22.13. Wilmslow’s Janine Ellis took a week off from volunteer duties to be second lady in 22.49, with Pamela Sharp third in 23.33. Given the conditions there were unsurprisingly very few PBs today, but junior Ian Piczenik managed one in 20.42, coming in just behind first junior overall Paul Cooke. Back from his long-term injury, Graham Taylor made another big improvement to clock 20.46.Meantime watch this space for updates on next week’s Santa Run. The forecast is looking very wintry for the end of the week so do keep a close watch on this site which will be regularly updated by Rob as he keeps a close eye on conditions in the park. Meanwhile enjoy your running and see you all next week (hopefully!)